The Best Of Plus: Broadcast New Scripted Series

This is The Best Of Plus, a look at the top performers since 2001-02 using numbers that are adjusted for historical decline. The table simply looks at the top n examples, where n is the number of years since 2001-02... so with each yearly update, each list will get one entry longer. There are some pithy notes about many of the seasons below the table. The chart you can activate at the bottom chronicles the top single performer within each year.

The Breakdown: CBS Monday in 2016-17 (Kevin Can Wait, Man with a Plan, Scorpion and more!)

It's time for a journey through the CBS Monday schedule in 2016-17...

Spotted Ratings, Monday 4/17/17

FINALS UPDATE: Dancing with the Stars (1.8) and Kevin Can Wait (1.1) adjusted up while Quantico (0.5) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• A Disney-themed edition of ABC's Dancing with the Stars (1.7/1.8) surged to its best rating in at least three weeks, putting it above the year-ago airing in raw numbers for the first time since the season premiere. But its lead-in Quantico was stuck at 0.6.

• Elsewhere, it was mostly more of the same, including steady showings from CBS' 2 Broke Girls (1.0) and Fox's 24: Legacy (0.8) in their season or series finales. CBS was at 1.0 across the board for its comedy lineup, which made Kevin Can Wait (1.0) look a lot worse than usual, but looked good in the 10/9c hour as Scorpion (1.1) was on the uptick. 24 led into a fourth consecutive 0.6 from APB.

• On NBC, The Voice (2.0) was preliminarily down a notch, leading into Taken (0.9) which was preliminarily up a notch.

• And the CW finished out its final Supergirl hiatus with another repeat (0.2).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 4/10/17

FINALS UPDATE: Dancing with the Stars (1.6), Kevin Can Wait (1.2) and The Voice (2.1) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers and analysis coming shortly.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 3/20/17

FINALS UPDATE: Dancing with the Stars (2.1) adjusted up while Quantico (0.7) and Taken (0.9) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC's Dancing with the Stars (2.0/2.1) had an outstanding return, up by at least two tenths from its spring 2016 premiere and roughly tying the fall 2016 opener during pre-premiere week. Perhaps the even greater miracle was that it actually bumped up the struggling Quantico (0.8) by a couple notches, though the 0.9 -> 0.6 breakdown suggests it could be a 0.7 after finals.

• The return of the older-skewing Stars did not bode well for the competition. On CBS, it was still another week of downward movement for comedies Kevin Can Wait (1.1), Man with a Plan (1.0), Superior Donuts (1.0) and 2 Broke Girls (1.0). The only small consolation was that Scorpion hung in there at 1.1 at 10/9c.

• And it was a brutal night for Fox's 24: Legacy (0.8), crashing by two tenths following one of its relatively more promising points last week. APB was stuck at last week's 0.7 low.

• The Voice (2.2/2.5) stayed on top but took a slightly bigger hit than it usually does in this spot. Taken (1.0) followed it downward, going to a new low by two tenths.

• The CW's Supergirl (0.6) dipped to a new low, and Jane the Virgin stayed at 0.3.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 3/13/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Bachelor (2.7) and Kevin Can Wait (1.3) adjusted up while Howie Mandel All-Star Comedy Gala (R) (0.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The finale for The Bachelor (2.7) and After the Final Rose (2.4) both spiked from last week, but still came a couple tenths shy of the year-ago telecasts.

• The DST bug might have been offset by winter weather on the East Coast (PUT was up 2% week-to-week), but there was still a one-tenth drop across the board for the CBS comedies (1.3/1.1/1.1/1.1) and Scorpion (1.1). 

• NBC held up fairly well, with The Voice (2.6) down a tenth and Taken (1.2) steadying in week three. 

• Fox's 24: Legacy (1.0) had a helpful rally back into the ones. However, APB (0.7) fell to a new low.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 2/27/17

FINALS UPDATE: Scorpion (1.2) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was another healthy return to the stage for NBC's The Voice (3.1), down by just three tenths from the year-ago spring premiere (and two tenths below the fall 2016 premiere). But the early prospects do not look positive for new drama Taken (1.6), which started even lower than the fall bow of Timeless (which had a 1.8 out of a similar 3.0 lead-in). It could be more successful than Timeless if it holds up well, but the 1.8 -> 1.4 half-hour breakdown does not seem promising on that front.

• On ABC, a one-hour edition of The Bachelor (2.4) led into a very low-rated start for weeklong miniseries When We Rise (0.7), which had a 0.9 in the 9:00 half-hour but fell to 0.6 in the 10:00 hour.

• CBS tried to stay afloat by subbing a repeat of The Big Bang Theory (1.3) into the lead-off role. It was a tenth below last week's Kevin Can Wait, and Man With a Plan (1.2) also declined by a tenth, but Superior Donuts (1.2) and 2 Broke Girls (1.2) stayed even. Scorpion (1.1) was down a tenth at 10/9c.

• Fox mercifully got some stabilization in the fourth week for 24: Legacy (1.0) and APB (0.8).

• And the CW had an even Supergirl (0.7) leading into downticking Jane the Virgin (0.3).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 2/20/17

FINALS UPDATE: Quantico (0.6) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was another week of rough drops for Fox's new dramas, as 24: Legacy (1.0) and APB (0.8) each shed another two tenths. Considering 24 was right on the verge of adjusting up to 1.3 last week, that means it must have dropped at least as much in the un-rounded as it did last week. 24 is now tied with Gotham's season low in the hour, and APB is significantly weaker than anything the previous occupants were doing on the night.

• On NBC, the finale of Timeless (0.9) tried to make one last case by upticking to its usual January level. But the 0.6 and 0.7 from earlier this month are not forgotten, and it got an assist from an American Ninja Warrior (1.4) special that did better than any episode of Celebrity Apprentice in the timeslot.

• It was a down night for CBS comedies Kevin Can Wait (1.4), Man with a Plan (1.3) and especially Superior Donuts (1.2), which shed two tenths. Those declines made steady 2 Broke Girls (1.2) and Scorpion (1.2) look a bit better by comparison.

• After weeks hovering around 2.4, The Bachelor (2.5) finally upticked to a new season high. Its lead-out Quantico (0.7) is in for another finals sweat, with a 0.8 -> 0.5 breakdown yet again.

• And on the CW, Supergirl (0.7) gave back last week's uptick, but Jane the Virgin held at 0.4.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 2/13/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Bachelor (2.4) adjusted up while Quantico (0.6) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was a mixed at best week two for the new Fox drama lineup, as 24: Legacy (1.2) took a typical-ish week two drop at 8/7c while APB (1.0) tumbled much more. At this point, 24 has the same rating as a high-end Gotham, while APB is a below-average Lucifer, and it's only week two.

• On CBS, things were mostly steady, which was good news for the second Monday edition of Superior Donuts (1.4). 

• ABC's Quantico (0.7) gets to sweat out finals once again, with another preliminary breakdown of 0.8/0.5. The Bachelor inched down but outrated the year ago evening (which was against the Grammys, to be fair).

• On NBC, Timeless (0.7) mercifully rose after last week's collapse, but was still a long way from the 0.9's it was posting in January. And a disappointing season of Celebrity Apprentice (0.9) ended in anti-climactic fashion, with a mere one-hour finale that couldn't even build from its The Wall repeat lead-in.

• And the CW was preliminarily on the upswing with Supergirl (0.8) and Jane the Virgin (0.4).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 2/6/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Bachelor (2.4) and Superior Donuts (1.4) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Just 20 hours after it finished airing its Super Bowl episode on the East Coast, 24: Legacy made its timeslot premiere with an underwhelming 6.2 million viewers and 1.5 demo rating. It's still well within acceptable territory by Fox standards, but it's really only one typical drop away from being at the same level as the evicted Gotham and Lucifer. If there was a silver lining for Fox, it was that newbie APB did exactly the same 1.5 at 9/8c. For a show with seemingly much less brand awareness than its lead-in, it's a surprisingly decent start.

• On CBS, it was the timeslot premiere for Superior Donuts (1.3), which fit in OK among a generally down night for comedies Kevin Can Wait (1.5), Man with a Plan (1.4) and 2 Broke Girls (1.3). At 10/9c, Scorpion (1.2) inched down as well.

• Things got even more miserable on NBC, where Celebrity Apprentice (0.9/0.8) continued going in the wrong direction despite making some news this week, and Timeless (0.6) suddenly and completely melted down after several weeks at 0.9.

• On ABC, The Bachelor held at a dominant 2.3, but with a 0.8 -> 0.5 breakdown, Quantico (0.7) will have to sweat out a potential adjustment into even more embarrassing territory.

• And the CW was even with Supergirl (0.7) and Jane the Virgin (0.3).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 1/23/17

FINALS UPDATE: Celebrity Apprentice (1.1) adjusted up while Quantico (0.8) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• A new timeslot after The Bachelor (2.4) gave Quantico (0.9) a boost, but not a particularly encouraging one. It certainly doesn't look any stronger than the show that aired on Sunday in the fall, with half-hours that exactly matched the two-week run of Big Fan (1.0 -> 0.7) (and also may put it in some danger of adjusting down after finals).

• CBS had a big night, as Man with a Plan (1.6) and 2 Broke Girls (1.7) rose to tie their season highs leading out of another 1.7 from Kevin Can Wait. A repeat of The Big Bang Theory (1.6) significantly livened up the 9:30 half-hour compared with usual occupant The Odd Couple, and helped Scorpion (1.3) to tick up at 10/9c.

• In the second week of the brief return for the Fox dramas, Lucifer (1.2) ticked up to match its Gotham lead-in (1.2).

• It was a brutal night for NBC's Celebrity Apprentice (1.0), which tanked to a new low, while Timeless clung to last week's 0.9.

• And the CW was finally back in business after a long winter hiatus, with Supergirl (0.8) a bit below its fall average and Jane the Virgin posting its usual 0.4.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 1/16/17

FINALS UPDATE: Howie Mandel All-Star Comedy Gala (0.3) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• NBC featured the return of Timeless (0.9) for a winter run following Celebrity Apprentice (1.2). While a raw series low, this 0.9 was not really any weaker in True than some of its later post-Voice episodes... but that's not a compliment.

• The CBS comedy lineup (1.7/1.5/1.5/1.1), finally free of football competition, had notable surges on Monday. It was also a huge night for ABC's The Bachelor (2.3), which set off on its usual post-premiere growth trajectory.

• On Fox, Gotham (1.2) and Lucifer (1.1) came back for what will be just a three-week stint.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 1/2/17

FINALS UPDATE: Jimmy Kimmel Live Special (1.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• On the first Monday of the new year, ABC stood tallest with The Bachelor (2.1) just about matching last year's 2.2 premiere. At 10/9c, the network had a Bachelor-themed Jimmy Kimmel Live special (1.1).

• NBC brought back Celebrity Apprentice (1.3) with new host Arnold Schwarzenegger in fairly underwhelming fashion; its last premiere notched a 2.4 two years ago. It looks like Apprentice could still be an improvement on the Monday The Voice reality filler from last year, The Biggest Loser, but it may not be by a huge margin. It led into a second preview of game show The Wall (1.2), which will take up its regular Tuesday 8/7c slot starting tonight.

• CBS was back to Monday originals with Kevin Can Wait (1.4), Man with a Plan (1.2), 2 Broke Girls (1.3), The Odd Couple (1.0) and Scorpion (1.2), but mostly did not enjoy the usual bounces we see at the start of a new year. Perhaps it didn't help that ESPN's Rose Bowl game ran much deeper into East Coast primetime than expected.

• Fox and the CW are both ducking the college football competition on the first couple Mondays of the new year; Fox went with a MasterChef special (0.9) while the CW repeated its iHeartRadio Music Festival (0.3/0.2).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 12/19/16

FINALS UPDATE: The Great Christmas Light Fight (1.1) and The Great American Baking Show (R) (0.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• NBC was on top of Monday with a two-hour America's Got Talent Christmas special (1.8) leading into a solid preview for Tuesday Voice filler The Wall (1.6) at 10/9c. Wall skewed noticeably younger than Talent, retaining barely two-thirds of its total viewership but close to 90% in the demo.

• CBS' one-hour Michelle Obama/Oprah Winfrey special skewed quite old, with over 9 million total viewers but just a 1.3 demo rating. That made it little help to a special 9/8c edition of Man with a Plan (1.1). 2 Broke Girls (1.2) also moved back a half hour, to 9:30 (which it will be inheriting permanently in 2017), while Scorpion (1.2) inched up at 10/9c.

• We'll see about Monday Night Football preemptions again, but ABC had another two hours of The Great Christmas Light Fight (1.2) leading into a repeat of The Great American Baking Show (0.9).

• Fox went with more drama repeats (0.4/0.4), while CW's Supergirl repeat (0.4) led into low-rated special 'The Marie Claire Young Women's Honors' (0.2).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 12/12/16

FINALS UPDATE: The Great Christmas Light Fight (1.1) and The Great American Baking Show (R) (0.6) and Timeless (1.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was a fairly soft night for the CBS Monday comedy lineup, with anchors Kevin Can Wait (1.4) and 2 Broke Girls (1.2) inching down in the prelims. Man with a Plan (1.2) was even and The Odd Couple (1.0) slightly up at the bottoms of the hours. And Scorpion (1.1) inched down to round out the night. Kevin and The Odd Couple are done for 2016 now, but the others will return to lead out of a Michelle Obama special next Monday.

• NBC began The Voice's finale week with a bit of an uptick to 2.2. It was another very sharp year-to-year decline vs. the excellent year-ago season, as last fall had a 3.2 for the Monday finale (which was also paired with a huge Adele special). Timeless closed the year with another 1.2, and we will next see it leading out of Celebrity Apprentice in January.

• ABC's The Great Christmas Light Fight (1.3/1.2) and repeat of The Great American Baking Show (0.8) appear to be pending Monday Night Football preemptions?

• The holidays have already begun on the CW with specials Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer (0.3) and Greatest Holiday Commercials (0.2), as well as on Fox with repeats of Gotham (0.5) and Lucifer (0.5).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 12/5/16

FINALS UPDATE: 2 Broke Girls (1.3) and The Voice (2.1) adjusted up while The Great Christmas Light Fight (1.1) and Conviction (0.6) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC brought back holiday staple The Great Christmas Light Fight (1.3/1.2) leading into Conviction (0.8) at 10/9c. This would be about the same raw number as last year's Light Fight premiere (1.2) but the network is pending Monday Night Football preemptions.

• CBS had another solid night from Kevin Can Wait (1.5), but new lows from Man with a Plan (1.2) and 2 Broke Girls (1.2). The network got a big upgrade from a repeat of The Big Bang Theory (1.4) at 9:30, leading into The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show (2.1) in the 10/9c hour. After a massive drop last year, the fashion show shed another couple tenths this time.

• NBC had a fairly typical night with The Voice (2.1/2.0) and Timeless (1.2), while Fox basically matched its usual drama numbers with two-hour special Showtime at the Apollo (1.1). The CW had repeats of Supergirl (0.4/0.3).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 11/21/16

FINALS UPDATE: Conviction (0.7) and The Odd Couple (1.0) and Supergirl (0.9) and Jane the Virgin (0.4) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Kevin Can Wait (1.5) preliminarily ticked down for the second straight week on CBS, but it was a decent night for the rest of the comedy lineup; Man with a Plan (1.3) was even, while 2 Broke Girls (1.4) and The Odd Couple (1.1) both ticked up. Scorpion hung another 1.2 at 10/9c.

• ABC had only a minimal uptick for the performance finale of Dancing with the Stars (1.8), though it was still even-ish in Plus with last year's performance finale (2.1). Conviction had another 0.8 at 10/9c.

• On NBC, the late-season slump continued for The Voice (2.1/2.0), which will hope to benefit from DWTS' absence in the coming weeks. Timeless clung to 1.2 in the prelims at 10/9c.

• Fox's Gotham (1.1) and Lucifer (1.0) both inched down.

• And the CW's Supergirl (1.0) and Jane the Virgin (0.6) should be adjusted due to Monday Night Football preemptions.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 11/14/16

FINALS UPDATE: 2 Broke Girls (1.3) adjusted up while Supergirl (0.7) and Jane the Virgin (0.3) adjusted down.

FINALS UPDATE: 2 Broke Girls (1.3) adjusted up while Supergirl (0.7) and Jane the Virgin (0.3) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The fourth week for the CBS comedy lineup saw several downticks. Kevin Can Wait (1.6) still looks good in the lead-off spot, but Man with a Plan (1.3) was just OK again at 8:30, and 2 Broke Girls (1.2) had a particular stinker at 9/8c. The CBS trends improved in the second half of the night as The Odd Couple (1.0) was even and Scorpion (1.2) picked up a tenth.

• ABC had a bit of an upswing with Dancing with the Stars (1.7/1.6) and Conviction (0.8), which rebounded to normal after a horrible result last week.

• On Fox, Gotham (1.2) and Lucifer (1.1) both had pretty good nights, with Lucifer growing for the second straight week since its Halloween low point.

• NBC's The Voice (2.3) and Timeless (1.2), along with the CW's Supergirl (0.8) and Jane the Virgin (0.5) are mostly eyeing slight growth, but may be nicked by Monday Night Football preemptions in finals.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 11/7/16

FINALS UPDATE: Conviction (0.6) and The Odd Couple (1.0) and Jane the Virgin (0.4) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The end of DST plus the fact that last week was Halloween caused a rather ridiculous upswing in overall viewing  on Monday, pretty much throughout the first two hours but especially at 8:00 (which was up over 20%, from 24.5 to 30.1). That resulted in a slew of broadcast increases in those early hours.

• Most drastic was CBS' Kevin Can Wait (1.7), using an added assist from an Adam Sandler guest spot to zoom all the way back to its timeslot premiere rating from two weeks ago. Man with a Plan (0.1), 2 Broke Girls (1.4) and The Odd Couple (1.0) each packed on a tenth, but that meant MwaP looked a bit weaker by comparison with its Kevin lead-in.

•  The Voice (2.3) also had a significant increase, but is predictably finding it very difficult to sustain last year's hot pace from the late fall. It led into big ratings for a Saturday Night Live election special (2.1) at 10/9c, nearly doubling the week-ago Timeless.

• Fox's Gotham (1.2) and Lucifer (1.0) as well as the CW's Supergirl (0.7) were also on the post-Halloween upswing.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 10/31/16

FINALS UPDATE: Gotham (1.0) adjusted up while Kevin Can Wait (1.3) and Man with a Plan (1.3) and 2 Broke Girls (1.3) and The Odd Couple (0.9) and Scorpion (1.1) adjusted down.

• For the CBS comedy night, this means a pretty huge drop for Kevin Can Wait at 8/7c, but a decent enough hold from week two of Man with a Plan (causing Renewology to warm up a bit, even on a down night). 2 Broke Girls was down 0.1 (OK) and The Odd Couple down 0.2 (not great) from last week.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Halloween brought another slew of broadcast drops, and it'll be tough to know exactly what they mean until seeing the week-to-week change in overall viewing (as well as sorting out MNF preemptions). It was week two for the new CBS comedy lineup of Kevin Can Wait (1.4), Man with a Plan (1.5), 2 Broke Girls (1.5) and The Odd Couple (1.2), with Scorpion (1.4) rounding out the night. Stay tuned, as the network had at least one football preemption.

• NBC's The Voice (1.9/2.0) and Timeless (1.1) had a particularly rough night in the prelims, with Voice shedding about 25% week-to-week.

• Dancing with the Stars (1.4/1.5) took a more modest decline, but the network got little at 10/9c out of its annual CMA Awards preview special (0.7).

• Fox's Gotham (0.9) and Lucifer (0.9) both dipped into fractional territory for the first time.

• And Supergirl (0.6) was nicked again at 8/7c, leading into increasingly resilient Jane the Virgin (0.4) at 9/8c.